


Celestial Bodies in Motion (College Bodies in Motion)

by sartiebodyshots



Series: Stargate University [6]
Category: Stargate - All Series, Stargate Atlantis, Stargate SG-1
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-29
Updated: 2014-11-06
Packaged: 2018-02-23 02:33:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2530781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sartiebodyshots/pseuds/sartiebodyshots
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sam volunteers weekly at an elementary school, which is going to have a science fair soon.  Needless to say, she's super pumped.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Pluto

**Author's Note:**

  * For [internetface](https://archiveofourown.org/users/internetface/gifts).



> This is legit Jackie's fault. She requested it and everything (although, I have filled 0% of the prompt in this first chapter)

            Every Tuesday afternoon, Sam volunteers at a local elementary school.  She tutors a group of children, usually in science, but sometimes she branches out.  What gets her most pumped is when their classes are doing astronomy.  Well, that’s not quite true.  What actually gets her most pumped is when her group of students clamors to do an astronomy related project for the upcoming science fair.

            “I need your help with this science project,” Sam tells John one afternoon.

            “My help?” John asks, looking up from his laptop.

            “His help?” Rodney chimes in.  “Okay, if you need help with science, which, it’s about time you admitted, why wouldn’t you ask the smartest person you know?  God, even Radek knows more about science than John, not that it’s a high bar.”

            “Hey!” Radek protests.

            “I forgot you were here,” Rodney says, shaking his head.

            “We walked here together!” Radek protests.

            “Yes, well, you might have left,” Rodney says, turning back towards Sam.  “What do you need, Sam?”

            Sam purses her lips together.  “I was going to ask to borrow his car.  I have to buy some supplies and I can’t carry everything myself.  But thank you, so much, for your assistance, Rodney.  I can forget about John’s car now, since you’ve offered to carry everything for me.” She claps his shoulder. 

            While Rodney sputters next to her, she turns back to John.  “Can I borrow your car sometime this week? And then this weekend?  I’m having a special tutoring session with some of my kids; we’re going to make a model of the solar system for their yearly science fair.”  She can’t control her grin as she says, “It was their idea.” 

            “You don’t need to borrow the car; you have Rodney,” John says, stretching lazily. 

            Sam makes a face at him.  “How about tomorrow?  Does that work?”

            “Yeah, we can head out after your lab class if you want.  Maybe stop for dinner?” John says.  They could make a date out of it.

            “Dinner sounds excellent!” Rodney chimes in.

            “I wasn’t asking you,” John says, glaring at him over Sam. 

            “But I’m coming with you!” Rodney says.  “Since Sam needs help with her science and all.”

            “I don’t need your help with the science, Rodney,” Sam says.  “I literally never asked for your help.”

            “Not _yet_ ,” Rodney says smugly. 

            Sam sighs and looks over at John with a pained expression.  “I don’t think he’s going to leave us alone.”

            “Do we have to?” John asks.

            “Yes!” Rodney says.

            “Remind me not to mention food next time,” John says as he nods and Rodney beams at the two of them. 

            Rodney sulks in the backseat as they drive to the store.  He had tried to call shotgun, but Sam not-so-regretfully informed him that girlfriend privileges overruled all shotguns.  With John nodding in agreement, Rodney climbed into the back and promptly started glaring at them all.

            “If I get carsick, you’re both going to be sorry,” Rodney says.

            “If you get carsick, you can walk the rest of the way,” John says.

            “I’ve known you for years, Rodney, since before we both came to college, and you’ve never gotten carsick,” Sam points out.

            “Well, I’ve never ridden with John before!  He drives like a maniac!” Rodney says.

            “Nothing wrong with a little speed,” John says, speeding up just a smidgeon. 

            When Sam glances back at him, his fists are clenched, resting on his knees, and it looks like he’s about to combust.  She tries and fails to suppress a grin.  “He’s a good driver,” Sam soothes.  “I don’t think he’s gotten a ticket before.”

            “Maybe one?” John says.  “Parked too long in a two hour parking zone.”

            “See, Rodney?  Not anything dangerous,” Sam says.

            Rodney is still sulking in the backseat when John pulls into the parking lot.  They make their way into the store, and Sam gleefully grabs a shopping cart.  She practically runs down the aisles, trying to find the craft aisle.  This is going to be the best science fair project.  Ever.

            The two men trail behind her, John with a bemused smile on his face.  Rodney keeps trying to loop back to the electronics section, but John drags him along.  He doesn’t actually want to lose Rodney. 

            They lose her for a few minutes (because, okay, John decides that the best way to keep an eye on Rodney is to play an intense round of Halo on the demo machine), but they quickly find her putting wooden balls of various sizes into her cart, along with some metal rods. 

            Rodney digs through her cart as she looks at paint colors, mumbling to himself.  His digging grows more frantic as she throws bottles of paint in.  Finally, he looks up and grabs her shoulder.  “Where’s Pluto?” 

            “Rodney, I’m just doing the sun and the planets,” Sam says, taking a step back and shrugging his hand off of her arm before turning back to the paint. 

            “Where’s Pluto?” Rodney repeats.

            “Pluto isn’t a planet, Rodney,” Sam says.  “I can’t do all the dwarf planets.  I don’t want to do all the dwarf planets.”

            “Awww, you left out Pluto?” John chimes in.  “Sam, why?”

            “Because the International Astronomical Union created a formal set of rules about what defines a planet, and Pluto doesn’t fall inside those rules,” Sam says, not looking away from the rack of paint. 

            “But they’re kids, Sam!” John protests, and when she finally looks up, she sees they’re both looking plaintively at her. 

            “Children- and apparently some adults- need to learn science.  When it comes to science, you can’t get stuck on nostalgia, no matter how tempting it is,” Sam says, patting John’s cheek gently before going back to her paint.  She can’t believe that of all the ridiculous things to bring Rodney and John to an agreement, it’s Pluto that does it. 

            “I can’t believe that she’s leaving Pluto out!” Rodney exclaims. 

            “Well, I’m going to appreciate Pluto, even if she won’t,” John says, going down the aisle and grabbing a little wooden ball.  He tosses it in the air and catches it smoothly.  “Help me pick out a paint color.  I’m not sure what the best Pluto color is.”

            “Black and yellow,” Rodney replies, grabbing a dull yellow and handing it to John.

            “Nice,” John says, taking it and putting it in the cart.

            “Are you really buying Pluto?” Sam says, raising an eyebrow and dumping an armful of paint into the cart.

            “We’re buying the least appreciated planet that you’ve so callously ignored, yes,” Rodney says.

            “Not a planet!” Sam says, grabbing her cart and pushing it down the aisle. 

            “It was a planet for, like, hundreds of years,” John complains.

            “The Earth was the flat center of the universe for hundreds of years, too,” Sam points out, skimming aisle signs.  “Our understanding of the universe changes.  We have to change with it.”

            “Very poetic.  I still think this one exception would have been completely acceptable,” Rodney says. 

            Sam shakes her head and walks quickly towards a promising aisle.  She tosses materials in, including the longest lasting batteries she can find.

            “What’s that for?” John asks.

            “To make a motor so the planets can orbit the Sun,” Sam says.

            “Cool,” John says, tossing and catching Pluto again.

            They finish with their shopping quickly and head back to the car.  Sam and John load everything in the car while Rodney explains how he could probably make a nuclear powered motor for Sam, if she wants.  They look at each other and roll their eyes. 

            “Yeah, I really want the CIA crashing the science fair,” Sam says once they’re back in the car.  “And just because you can make an atomic bomb, doesn’t mean you can make safe nuclear power.”

            “Woah, wait, he can make an a-bomb?” John interjects.

            “I made one for my own science fair when I was a kid,” Rodney says.  “The government went super crazy over it.”

            “It’s not too hard,” Sam adds.

            “Wait, you can make an a-bomb, too?” John says.

            “Yeah, I could,” Sam says.

            “Good to know,” John says, taking in a deep breath and then murmuring to himself, “I don’t know if that’s hot or scary.”

            They drive silently for a little bit, before Rodney interrupts the silence again.  “So, where are we going to eat?”

            “Dining hall,” John says.

            “I thought you said we were going out for dinner!” Rodney protests.

            “That was when it was me and Sam.  We were going to go out on a date.  The three of us aren’t going to go on a date,” John says gruffly.

            “Oh…” Rodney says and he looks a little crestfallen.  “I didn’t mean to, uh, actually get in the way of anything.”

            Sam watches John’s face and sees him make a decision that she wants to kiss him for.  “You’re not getting in the way,” John says.  “I’m just not taking you out to a five star restaurant with candlelit tables and romantic music playing in the background.  Actually, now that I think about it, there might be a McDonalds not too far out of the way.”

            Sam expects Rodney to protest and want to go out somewhere nicer, but Rodney just nods.  They end up eating in, Rodney and John arguing with her the whole time about Pluto.  Sam eventually rolls her eyes and gives up.  They’re never going to listen to reason or science.  While they live up their Pluto love, she steals some of John’s fries, grumbling to herself.  Disgusting.

            It’s dark when they make it back to campus, so they leave the materials in the trunk and walk back to their dorms.  They drop Rodney off at his dorm, waving goodnight as they part.

            “I can’t believe that you’re in the Pluto is a planet camp,” Sam says when they’re curled up in her too small bed together.  His arm is awkwardly wedged under her and even though she’s mostly laying on John, she feels slightly worried she’s going to fall off the bed. 

            Sam listens to his laughter rumble through his chest.  John always sounds so warm, especially when they’re alone.  “You’re going to have to learn to live with it.”

            “Sneaky,” Sam says.  “You lure me in, get me attached, and then surprise me with _this_.”

            “Are you going to be able to forgive me?” John says, craning his neck to look down at her.

            “We’ll have to see,” Sam says, leaning up to kiss him.  “You did get me pretty attached first.”

            “Good, that was my master plan all along,” John replies. 

            “One day, though.  You’ll understand why it’s so important one day,” Sam says, tracing shapes idly on his chest as she lays her head back down. 

            John runs his fingers through her hair.  “I’m sure I will.”

            She smiles as his heart beat lulls her to sleep.


	2. The Sun

            The day of the science fair, Sam practically vibrates in excitement.  She’s spent hours with her kids getting everything together over the last week, and she’s been impressed with their ideas.  They put together index cards with information about all of the planets and oohed and aahed when she showed them the motor she rigged up to make the planets move.  To make sure everything goes off without a hitch, she’s arrived early, John in tow.

            “Sam, relax,” John says as she double checks everything before the big opening.  “Your exhibit is the best.  The motor you made really pushes it over the top.”

            “Thanks, John.  I just want to make sure everything is in working order.  They worked so hard and they deserve to have it run smoothly,” she says, looking up at him.  “Look at everything they’ve done.”

            “And it’s going to be wonderful,” John says, giving her a hand up.  “Trust me.”

            “You have a mini Pluto hanging over your bed.  I can never trust you again,” Sam says, trying hard not to smile as she nudges him.

            John kisses her cheek.  He’s about to say something when she shushes him and presses her finger to his lips.  “None of your Pluto-propaganda in front of the children,” she says, pointing towards the door.  The kids have just arrived.

            John puts on his best innocent looking face and holds his hands up in surrender.  “I won’t say anything,” he says. 

            Sam can’t hold back a smile as his lips tickle her finger, but he’s also pretty sure that she’s smiling because her kids are running towards her.  She squats down to get on their level and greets them.

            “Your exhibit looks great, you guys,” she says as they surround her.  “Do you guys remember what you’re going to say?”

            They all nod solemnly. 

            “Good.  Why don’t you guys practice on him?” Sam says, pointing to John.

            John squats down too as the kids line up to talk to him.  Each of them tells him about a particular planet.  He listens intently, impressed with the quality of their information and confidence that they speak with.  In the rare case where they falter, they look to Sam, who nods and offers a short bit of help.  When they’re done, he applauds and smiles back at all nine beaming faces- eight kids and Sam.

            “You guys are smart!  I didn’t know, well, almost any of that,” John says as he stands up.  “Good job.”

            “Wait, you didn’t hear Miss Sam’s presentation,” one of the kids- the kid who talked about Neptune- says.

            “Miss Sam’s presentation?” John asks.

            “Yeah!  She’s the Sun,” Neptune says. 

            “Sounds about right,” John murmurs.

            “Everyone wanted to be the Sun since it’s a star and not a planet,” Sam explains, a hint of a blush creeping over her face.  “So we decided that everyone would be a planet, and I would provide any needed information about the Sun.”

            “Well, tell me about the Sun, then,” John says.  “Miss Sam.”

            John can’t keep the smile off his face as Sam excitedly tells him all about the Sun.  She’s so animated and she manages to break down even the complex reactions that power the Sun into comprehensible bits.  Honestly, he’s never been hugely into the sciences, but he could listen to Sam talk about physics all day.

            When she’s done, John gives her a round of applause all her own and then gets out of the way as she organizes the kids to get ready for the fair to begin.  Other people begin to file in, Sam presses the button to get the solar system moving, and they’re ready to go. 

            Other students and parents all stop by, and Sam introduces the kids to the passersby and lets them say their pieces.  She smiles proudly as they explain their information.

            An hour later, Teal’c walks in with Cam and Daniel in tow and they look at all of the different exhibits before stopping at hers.  They let the kids talk without saying anything, Sam failing to keep the grin off of her face.

            “Your pupils are most well informed and eloquent,” Teal’c says when they’re done. 

            “I’m pretty sure they know more about the solar system than I ever did,” Cam adds.

            “Well, we’re scientists!”  Jupiter yells out. 

            “Yeah, we did all kinds of research,” Saturn chimes in.

            “You could be a scientist too!” Mars adds.

            “Aw man, I don’t know about that,” Cam says.

            “Miss Sam says anyone can be a scientist,” Jupiter replies, nodding solemnly.  “You just have to work hard and be in… in…” She frowns and looks at Sam for help.

            “Inquisitive,” Sam provides.

            “Yeah, inquisitive!” Jupiter says proudly.

            Daniel laughs.  “You sure are teaching them a lot,” he says.

            “It’s the job.  You should really look into it!” Sam says.  “The social studies department needs tutors!” 

            “I’ll think about it,” Daniel says. 

            Sam gives all three men hugs before they go. 

            A few more of her friends stop by-Janet brings Elizabeth and Jonas shows up with Teyla and Radek.  They all listen and praise her students and their work, while Sam watches on.  She’s especially pleased by how Teyla squats down to tell each of the students what she enjoyed about their presentations.  Sam makes a mental note to encourage Teyla to join the tutoring group too.

            Just before closing time, Vala, Rodney, and Ronon show up.  Vala immediately drapes herself around Sam as they listen to the presentations.  By now, Sam can practically mouth right along with her students.   It’s wonderfully done, and even Rodney doesn’t look as unimpressed as she expected. 

Then again, she had warned him that if he upset any of her students, she would make him pay for it.  She had even gotten Teal’c and Ronon to stand behind her to look extra menacing.  John had protested- as her boyfriend, shouldn’t _he_ be the one helping her intimidate people?  Teal’c had turned to look at him, eyebrow raised, and Rodney had pointed out that compared to Teal’c and Ronon, he was not remotely intimidating and that he was far more intimidated now than he would have been with just John standing behind Sam.  John had groaned and gotten back to his reading.

            At the end of their talk, Ronon nods approvingly while Vala disengages herself from Sam in order to squat down next to the kids and tell them how smart they are.  And, judging from what Sam is overhearing as she circles around to talk to Rodney, she might be trying to persuade them to form a space themed band.  Interesting prospect, but not actually why there’re here.

            “Decently done.  They could have-” Rodney says, yelping as Ronon elbows him from behind.

            “They can hear you,” Ronon says, voice rumbling low. 

            “It was a good, basic exhibit,” Rodney says dully.  “Good job.”

            “Thank you, Rodney,” Sam says, trying to keep the edge out of her voice. 

            “You’re welcome,” Rodney says magnanimously, clearly feeling like he’s done an incredibly good deed.

            Before Sam can say anything, she hears a weird chugging behind her.  She whips around to see steam starting to rise out of the Sun- where her engine is housed.  Sam presses forward through the throng of kids.  “Get them back!” she orders Vala and Ronon.  When John springs out of the corner he had been sitting in the past couple hours towards the Sun, she points him towards the kids from other exhibits that are starting to press in to see what’s happening.  “Keep them back.” 

            Sam shimmies under the still revolving solar system and pushes aside the panel that’s hiding her motor.  Parts of it have fused together and heat is radiating from the rig- probably from overuse- and when she tries to detach the switch, it burns her fingers.  

            “Crap!” she says, shaking her hand and ducking so Mercury doesn’t smack her in the face.  She pulls her sleeve up so it’s covering her hand so she can grab at the switch without it burning her.  When she tries to do so, something sparks and part of her motor goes up in mini-flame.  

            The kids are all yelling behind her, and she can distinctly hear both John and Vala’s urgent voices over the yells.  Without looking behind her, she pulls off her sweatshirt, thankful she’s at least wearing a tank top underneath, and does her best to smother the flames.  There’s one last poof as the top of the Sun explodes, pieces flying everywhere, and the flame is out.

            Sheepishly, she looks back to see parents, students, administrators, and everyone else staring at her.  John and Vala both look worried, and help pull her to her feet, John resting a hand on the small of her back.  She lets her sweatshirt drop to the floor, too burned to bother putting back on, even if it is cold.  While she’s mostly paying attention to the coordinator of the program’s reaction, she does note with annoyance that Rodney is staring at her chest. 

            There’s an awkward silence that stretches on until one of the kids murmurs.  “Miss Sam blew up the _Sun_.”

            “She’s so cool!” one of the other ones says.

            “I can’t believe she did that!”

            And soon all of the kids are crowded around her, chattering excitedly, and she gets down on her knees to hug them and congratulate them on doing so well.  She helps clean up her mess, grateful that John, Vala, Rodney, and Ronon all stay to help too, even if Rodney does complain the whole time and accidentally destroys like a third of the rest of the solar system.  Klutz. 

            Even talking to the administrator isn’t that bad, even if she is barred from making any more motors (or anything else that’s likely to be flammable) for a while. 

            When she’s laying in bed that night, she doesn’t even bother trying to sleep until she hears John knock on the floor above her.  _Blowing up a sun is pretty cool.  Super hot._

            Sam snorts at the bad pun.

            The next week when she shows up to volunteer, she’s greeted by all eight of her students dressed in identical bright yellow shirts.  On the front are the words: “What would Miss Sam do?” and on the back, it reads, “Blow up the Sun.”

            Sam sputters and asks the teacher where they came from.  The teacher tells her that a man dropped them off the day before, and left her one too.  When the kids clamor at her to put it on, she can’t resist. 

            She’s still wearing it when she stomps into Heliopolis after her volunteer work, and is absolutely floored when her friends are also wearing What Would Miss Sam Do shirts. 

            “This is ridiculous,” she says, backing out of the door.

            Vala drags her to the couch, pushes her into John’s lap, and plops down next to them.  “Samantha, darling, it was stupendous!  Breathtaking!” 

            “Really what you needed was some kind of coolant system,” Rodney pipes in.

            “You destroyed most of the rest of the solar system, Rodney,” John says, resting his hands comfortably on Sam’s waist.  “I don’t think you get to offer suggestions.  We live on Earth, and you destroyed it, which is totally not cool.  We’re all dead thanks to you.”

            “We’d all be dead without the Sun anyway!” Rodney says.  “She killed us all first!”

            Sam is perpetually grateful for Ronon’s willingness to poke at Rodney to get him to shush when she can’t reach him.  Rodney mutters angrily about Neanderthals but stops arguing about the Sun.

            “These are your fault, aren’t they?” Sam says, plucking at John’s bright yellow shirt.

            “Team effort,” Vala says. 

            “Vala’s idea, but I got the shirts,” John explains. 

            “He’s going to start bankrolling more of my grand ideas,” Vala says.

            “I didn’t actually say that,” John says.

            Vala waves that aside like it’s no big deal.  “Yeah, yeah, but you will and you know it.”

            Sam catches worry in John’s eyes that seems incongruous to the rest of the happy scene, but it’s gone so fast that Sam wonders if she’s imagined it.  “As long as you don’t bankroll plans to embarrass me,” she says, leaning against John’s chest and smiling as he rests his chin on the top of her head.

            “Those are the ones I’m most likely to bankroll,” John admits.

            Sam groans and rolls her eyes, flatly refusing to say that she likes the shirts no matter how many times Vala tries to get her to admit it. 

            What’s worse is how the shirts become part of everyone’s wardrobe.  It’s terrible and it makes her glow with the faintest bit of pride every time she sees it. 

            Blowing up a Sun _had_ been kinda cool, after all.


End file.
